Its starting to get a little hot here in Southern Illinois, and I'm thinking of changing my commuter set up.

Right now I'm commuting on my Dahon Speed P8 with a Crumpler backpack that holds 24L (its big). I never lock the bike up outside, I fold it up and carry it to the break room where I work.

I'm thinking about a rack and a pannier, mostly because my bag is overkill and a sweaty back means I need to spend extra time changing.

I still want to keep the compactness of the fold, and relatively normal handling characteristics. So I'm thinking about a rear rack with a single small pannier on the outside of the fold. I just need something big enough to carry my pants and some snacks.

Does anyone have any experience using a set up like this? Any ideas/advice would be helpful.

On a somewhat unrelated note , any time someone at works says "you're saving $$ riding a bike", I just laugh and they look confused

I use a rack and single pannier on my Bike Friday. It works perfectly, does not affect handling (can feel it slightly but very soon get used to it) and does not greatly affect the fold. The BF puts the rack way high off the rear tire, and due to the specific way the BF folds (rear triangle/tire fold under the main tube) the rack does cause the rear tire to sit higher off the ground when folded. Your Dahon will be fine. I also have a Speed P8 with a rack, and it does not affect the ride or fold. Get a pannier with a shoulder strap if you have distance to carry it. You'll be just fine with a rack and pannier.

I have a Speed P8 that has an arclite rack. I typically run a topeak DXP bag on it that has those fold down quasi panniers which I seldom use. I get a tiny bit of heel strike with that sometimes. Just bought a Deuter rack bag that isn't as wide.

Also I have a Speed TR that has the Tour rack on it and I run Deuter Panniers on it. No heel strike but I'm back as far as I can humanly go.

I have not tried the Panniers on the arclite rack but I suspect I'd get heel strike unless I put the tour rack on it. It should work as I believe they are both the same frame.

Just a matter of picking the right rack I would think. Neither rack affects my fold at all and in fact I find it more convenient to carry the bike by the rack.

One more note. Here's a pic of the Speed TR and touring rack. Don't have a photo of the panniers.

On my Deuter Panniers there is a mesh bag thingy that is closest to the pedals. If I used this bag for anything I'd get heel strike.

In a perfect world I wish I could go back a couple more inches and I'm sure there are solutions, I just don't know what they are and I'm content with what I have. I can carry clothes and a laptop with what I have which was my goal.

The main problem with panniers is heel strike...if you get around this, you will be all set. I do use the bike-specific luggage from brompton which attaches to the front frame, and before that, I used a klickfix backpack or basket which I attached to the headtube or seatpost.

Seems to be a bit higher than the dahon touring rack, and the pannier fits great with no heel strike. Fitting the rack was no problem, but only because my LBS threw in some longer mounting pieces.

It makes the fold a touch taller, but the pannier is easily removable and works as a shoulder bag. A few commutes this week will determine how well this set up works, but my first impression is that for the money (a bit more than the touring rack for both pieces) I'm pretty pleased w/ the results.

And I manage to get away with minimal heelstrike, even on the little bike. I've used all sorts of panniers, plus my Ortlieb Office Bag 2 on it without problems, the Mini still goes in the bag with it on, I can carry the bike easily with it (it's in the right position for the perfect centre of gravity when there are bags on there), and of course, it can be easily removed. Here's my Mini wearing the rack and plenty of kit besides!